Spain, Portugal, Wales, and England

The 2011 Europe spring tour visited Spain, Portugal, Wales and London with a group of 32 keen travellers. Our tour guide for the Iberian leg was the very enthusiastic Julian. The tour began with a 2 night stopover for most in Dubai before a flight to Barcelona via Madrid. The Spanish gardens ranged from the Renaissance style Italian and French gardens with elaborate parterres and formal arrangements to the Islamic style gardens of the south of Spain best highlighted by the Alhambra and Generalife. The enclosed private courtyards and intelligent use of water and shades of green were memorable.  A highlight of the tour was visit to Cordoba for the Festival of Patios – a week long carnival of Flowers contest with private patios competing for top honours and large cash prizes. After a few pleasant days in Lisbon we headed over the English channel to spend time visiting Wales botanical garden, Bodnant Garden, Powis Castle and Hidcote manor gardens among others. The gardens were in spring colour and right up to expectations. The tour concluded with 3 nights in London and the chance to see the fabulous Chelsea Flower Show where Australian gardens again did very well earning a Gold and a sliver gilt medal.  The tour group once again got along really well and made sure that the trip was memorable for all the right reasons.

Darwin to Perth Wildflowers

The Darwin to Perth Wildflower tour for 2012 was an epic journey, Our group of 21 (see picture taken on the way to Tom Price mine) travelled more than 6500 km on our Stonestreets Classic 5 coach with Darren Truss as both coach captain and expert commentator. We enjoyed 6 cruises on waters as diverse as Darwin harbour, Katherine Gorge, Geikie Gorge, Ord River, Shark Bay and the Swan river in Perth. The Kimberley region as a revelation with its scale and beauty. Mighty Boab trees, kapok trees, vast mines, dams and large numbers of crocodiles. The diversity of vegetation was staggering. 12000 different species of flowering plants making the trip one of the most diverse that you can do on the planet. The wildflower season was recorded as one of the best with literally hundreds of kilometres of wildflowers from the Exmouth area south. Paper daisies, smoke bush, Grevilleas, Hakeas and the ever present Mulla Mulla made an unforgettable show. Even after all the kilometres that we travelled I think most of us were left with the desire to keep on exploring.

Japan Autumn Colour
The Japan 2011 Autumn colours tour saw heaps of autumn colour. The golden Japanese Zelkova trees provided a great backdrop in all the of the natural areas with elms, pistachias, enkianthus and of course Japanese maples starring in the gardens that we visited. The tour began in Tokyo before heading to Mt Fuji, Matsumoto, Kanasawa, Kyoto, Okayama, Hiroshima and Osaka. A special feature of this tour was a full exploring Toowoomba’s sister city, Takatsuki, courtesy of their local council.  We were welcomed by  Mayor Hamada and then shown the main parts of the city before venturing into the hills for great autumn colour and a tour of a local pottery. Our tour group was a compact 13 ably led by our Japanese guide Naomi who proved to a font of knowledge and great fun. Japanese garden lovers celebrate autumn with numerous festivals and many garden lit up for night viewing.